Lia Anshar's Honest Pages

  Genre:  Middle Grade Fiction Publishing date:  September 8, 2026 Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  IndieBound Rep:  Syrian-American, Muslim, Anxiety Synopsis: From the National Book Award–winning author of Kareem Between comes a powerful novel in verse about two sisters trapped in a blizzard in a heart-wrenching story of sisterhood and survival. Two sisters. One storm. A fight for their lives. Rama is all fire—fierce, quick to anger, and trying to hold her family together while battling the monster of intrusive thoughts. Leena is all ice—quiet, numbed to the vibrancy of the world, as she silently blames herself for their mother’s death. When their father must travel for work, a sudden blizzard traps the sisters alone at their rural home. As the storm tears through their house, they’re left without power, without food, without shelter—and with no one to rely on but each other. Told in powerful, poetic verse, Sisters Alone ...

  Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) Thank you to Anas Hakeem for this gifted ARC. Please visit https://www.anashakeem.com/  for more information about the book. It's a story about Adam, an eleven-year-old orphan who's spent his entire life thinking he's cursed. Strange things follow Adam wherever he goes: paint pots fall on people's heads, bathroom taps mysteriously flood, and bullies seem to follow him around. Worst of all, Adam's shadow has started moving on its own, writhing and stretching whenever he feels strong emotions. He's learned to keep his head down, stay invisible, and pray that no one notices the thing on the wall behind him.  But everything changes when Adam discovers that he's not cursed at all. He's Gushmar, a person born with magical energy called Gushoolah and an "Animal" fused within his very being. Suddenly, he's whisked away from the adoption center and into the magical world of Teraquair, where he finds ...

  Genre:  Middle Grade, Mystery Publishing date:  July 28, 2026 Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  IndieBound Synopsis: An eerie middle grade mystery debut that follows a young girl who returns home to find the people of her little town, including her best friend, chillingly changed after the arrival of the prim and proper Gingham family. “A rip-roaring adventure, but more importantly, a kids’ power ballad to the importance of being yourself.” —New York Times-bestselling author Gordon Korman When 12-year-old Joni Bird returns home from summer camp, it’s clear something strange is afoot in Olive Springs. May, her usually head-banging best friend, now wears her hair in a tight bun and calls playing the drums “unladylike.” The ice cream shop only serves vanilla ice cream. The women and girls of the neighborhood all sport big pearl earrings and crisp cotton dresses. At the heart of it all? The creepy new family in the neighborhood wi...

  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5) If you read and loved Milford's book, Greenglass House, you know what to expect: rich atmosphere and mysteries with a touch of wonder that pulls you right in. That’s exactly what I hoped for when I picked up Rialto and what I got was... something very different.  The story follows sisters Ivy and Dahlia Vicar, who travel to Rialto, Missouri, for a summer visit. Twelve-year-old Dahlia is an artist who lives with anxiety, and she’s eager for a change of scenery. Fourteen-year-old Ivy loves mysteries, but she’s struggling to figure out how to be a good big sister lately, and she misses the carefree vacations they used to have when they were small.  Rialto sounds like the perfect place for adventure: it sits in the middle of a strange forest and there’s even an abandoned theme park that feels like it’s full of secrets.  Here’s the thing, the blurb and the cover make this sound like a magical, theme park-centered mystery. But that’s not what this book ...

  My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) "He can’t just kill my dreams with a one-syllable word. I will not take no for an answer. I will convince him."  In Hafsa’s Way, we meet Hafsa, a girl with big dreams of becoming a doctor someday. So when she gets accepted into the prestigious Bukhari Summer Science Camp, she’s so excited. This is exactly the kind of opportunity she’s been hoping for, surrounded by other kids who share her passion for science. But not everyone is as excited as she is. Her parents hesitate for reasons: the camp is costly, and they’re not comfortable sending her all the way to the big city of Lahore without supervision. Thankfully, a solution comes through, her brother-in-law offers to cover the fees, and she can stay with him and her sister instead of in the camp dorms. After some persuasion, her parents finally agreed. Right from the start, things don’t go quite as planned. She quickly realizes she accidentally signed up for the wrong program. On top of that, she can’t...

  "It still baffled me that some people thought they had the right to own human beings." The Four Seasons of Florence Wallace by Kirstie Myvett is a captivating middle-grade novel that transports readers to a pivotal and often overlooked period of American history. If you're looking for a story that's as heartwarming as it is thought-provoking, and as hopeful as it is harrowing, then this is definitely one to add to your reading list! Set against the tumultuous backdrop of the Civil War, we meet Florence and her younger sister, Eva. After the tragic loss of their father and their mother's desperate search for work, the sisters find themselves in an orphanage. Florence, fueled by the unwavering belief that her Mama will return, finds strength and purpose in unexpected places: the companionship of new friends, the inspiring words of female abolitionists and suffragists, the lingering memories of her father's faith in her, and even a vibrant sunflower patch in th...

  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "It was out here all alone, without a pack or a home. King knew exactly what that felt like. They were both outsiders, determined to survive but unsure how." In King Coyote by Rachael Meyers Jones, we meet King, a twelve-year-old boy from Boston whose world is turned upside down. With his parents going through a divorce, he is sent to spend the summer on the rural side of Vermont with his aunt, uncle, and cousin, Nat. To King, it feels like a punishment. There’s no Wi-Fi, barely any other people who look like him, and the townsfolk aren't very welcoming. He feels like an outsider. But things change when King meets a lonely young coyote. Seeing himself in the misunderstood animal, King decides he must protect it. When his uncle calls trappers to remove the coyote, King and Nat embark on a wild journey to find the animal a safe new home. Along the way, King learns about courage, history, and what it really means to find home. This isn't just an adventur...

"'Yeah, but that doesn't make sense,' Samir says. 'How can you have NPCs in real life?,'"  If you enjoy middle-grade horror mixed with strange technology, Fatal Glitch by Erin Entrada Kelly and Eliot Schrefer is a wild and unsettling ride.  The story follows eleven-year-old Sofia Mendoza, a dedicated gamer who would much rather spend her time building landscapes and fighting monsters in Sandbox than dealing with real-world problems. After hurting her sister, Sofia’s father sends her to a mysterious camp called Forestjaw as a wake-up call.  But Forestjaw is not a normal camp.  Instead of campfires and crafts, Sofia finds herself surrounded by creepy mechanical vultures, cloaked NPC figures wandering through the forest, and a strange camp supervisor named Monarch who seems almost robotic. Even worse, the campers are forced to participate in an elimination game where survival is the only goal.  When I first saw the phrase “Black Mirror” in the book’s descrip...

"There was no such thing as a magic pencil to change the world: I would have to do something."  Malala: My Story of Standing Up for Girls' Rights by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick is an engaging and easy-to-follow introduction to Malala’s remarkable and inspiring life story. This middle grade adaptation of her life makes an important real-world story easier for younger readers to understand without losing its emotional impact.  The book takes readers to Pakistan’s Swat Valley, where Malala grew up during a time when the Taliban began taking control and banning girls from going to school. While many people were too afraid to speak out, Malala refused to stay silent. She bravely defended her right and the right of other girls to get an education.  Her courage came at a terrible cost. On October 9, 2012, when she was only fifteen years old, Malala was shot in the head while riding the bus home from school. Many believed she would not survive. Miraculously, she did....

  "'Yasmin, your hair is beautiful, and you can be beautiful too, you just have to lose weight. I know you can do it.' There it is. She'll never love me the way I am. Not completely." I just finished listening to The Blue Dress by Rebecca Morrison, narrated by Samara Naeymi, and this is one of those middle-grade stories that quietly lingers in your mind long after it’s over.  Some stories are loud. This one is quiet but it speaks volumes.  The story follows Yasmin, a Persian immigrant who has recently moved from Iran to the United States. She’s at that fragile, in-between stage of early adolescence where everything feels like it’s shifting at once, friendships, family dynamics, body image, identity. And Morrison captures that season of life with such honesty that it almost feels too real at times.  What struck me first was how grounded the middle school experience feels. Not the dramatic, exaggerated version we often see in the media but the everyday tension of i...

  "What makes a day special? What I mean is, what makes a special day special?"  Once Upon an Eid is a heartwarming anthology that brings together fifteen Muslim authors to celebrate one of the most joyful days of the year: Eid. Through short stories and lovely spot illustrations, this collection captures the many emotions and traditions surrounding this special holiday.  Eid may be a short, single-syllable word, but for Muslims, it carries so much meaning. It might remind you of waking up to the sound of frying samosas in the kitchen, the sweet comfort of bean pie, or the excitement of wearing a brand-new outfit for Eid prayer. For others, it’s about gift-giving, family gatherings, or long-awaited reunions. Whatever the tradition, the feeling that ties it all together is simple and powerful: joy.  This anthology beautifully showcases the diverse ways in which Eid celebrations can be observed. Religious holidays often require preparation, and every family has its own...

  "She's a monarch now," her mom said. "When we got here, she was just a caterpillar who was finding her footing."  Make Way For Monarchs by Carolyn Armstrong follows two gifted twin sisters Sierra and Sydney. On a family trip to South America to witness the monarch butterflies’ winter migration, the story blends environmental education, adventure, and sibling dynamics against the backdrop of a breathtaking high-elevation habitat.  As the twins explore this unique ecosystem, they uncover a troubling reality: “bad guys” are cutting down trees and threatening the monarchs’ fragile winter home. What begins as an educational hike quickly turns into a race against time.  Sydney, who possesses an animal-speak ability, calls on unexpected allies, including the butterflies themselves, a trio of horses, and an adorable little dog to gather help. Sierra, on the other hand, relies on her scientific thinking and problem-solving skills to brainstorm practical solutions. Tog...

  Reading Ada Holloway’s Had Enough by Randi Smith felt like opening a close friend’s diary and being trusted with her most honest thoughts. From the very first pages, Ada’s voice is raw, relatable, and deeply personal. She is a teenager trying to survive the everyday pressures of life: academic stress, expectations from parents, and the anxiety of not knowing what direction her future should take. These struggles are familiar, and that familiarity is exactly what makes Ada’s story so engaging and comforting at the same time. What truly sets this book apart is how Randi Smith skillfully connects these ordinary teenage challenges to much bigger, more complex issues. Ada’s senior thesis, which centers around a banned biography, becomes the heart of the story and a powerful catalyst for change. What begins as a school requirement slowly evolves into something much deeper, a bold questioning of censorship, power, and who gets to decide which stories are allowed to be remembered. The wa...